Beehive



L. BAMBERGER, BEEHIVE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 19,1920.

1,414,393. Patented May 2, 1922.

INVENTOR. 1/ 40m Jiwmxwz w #1. 1 A TTOR'N Y our-ran sra'rss rs"" LESTERBAMBERGEB; or RIVERSIDE, oALIroR vIA;

toa bee hive of the character having a heat and cold insulator initsupperportion to maintain the upper portion of thehive at as.

nearly a uniform. temperature as possible without the employment ofartificial heating and cooling methods.

In the keeping of cial production of honey, in order to obtain a maximumoutput of honey 'atthe proper peraturesand the insulation of the hiveagainst higher external temperatures 1s nec-' adversely affected.

season and to insure maximumpropagation of the bees,-to expand thecolony,the retention. of the animal heat produced, by the bees in thehive at cooler atmospheric temessary. In California, as ell as certainother partsof the World,- the difference between maximum and minimumtemperatures in the day time and at night,-respectively, is

considerable and if the bees are not ,protect'-' ed against such changesthe productionof honey and the reproduction of the bees are Under theclimatic conditions presentiin California, when the hive is notprotected in some way against the relatively great changes oftemperature, the bees waste a large amount of their energy-inprotectingthemselves from the colder temperatures, especially at night, and, asthe temperature increases greatly in the daytime, even during the winterseason whenv the bees should be more or less dormant, the warmtemperature outside of the hive causes'the bees to leave the hive andhunt for nectar. This, of course. is a waste of the bees energy iand,therefore, when the earlier blooms occur the bees arev not up totheirfull strength and are not capable of taking full advantage of theflowering crops. This isespecially true in relation to the orangeblossoms which appear comparatively early in the season, as early asJanuary.

An object of this invention is to provide a simple and effectiveconstruction whereby the bees will be. amply protected against extremesof temperature.

Another object is to provide a construc- Application filed July 19, 920,,s riaino. 397,259.

bees for the commer 'sions of this invention.

' Seem-of Y litatenteaMay2p1922fv tion which will facilitate the quickofthe insulation in the-hivewhen the hive has beenplaced in a location,and readyremoval of the insulation the'refromwhen' it is desiredto-transport'thehive from one lo-I cation to another, as is'done toa'consideifable extent in California in order to-take.,-advaI1-, tage ofthe different floweringncrops and shrubs at the different elevationsproyidedby the valleys, sea coasts and slopes.

nnother object is tolp'rovide, a construction": which can be read lyvused,;.tolinsulate the hive during-the time itjislocated,'forfthenectar-gathering operation 'of the bees, and

also. thoroughly ventilate the hive: during the periods of changing theihive fromg one location to another. vWhen the bees are taken from onelocation to another, it is very essential that the hive be well:ventilatedj so that the bees receive plenty of fresh air.

From the foregoing it will be clear that my invention serves }thedoublepurpose of insulating the hive against temperature changes andalso ventilating the hive. 1 i

The accompanying drawings illustrate inventionz Figure 1 1s asideelevation'of-a b'ee hive constructed in accordance with-the Iprovi-I Fig. 2 is a front elevationof Fig;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan section'on line indicatedby a2 00 Fig. l,theforaminous member of thescreen being fragmentarily shown;

4 is an enlargedfragmental vertical section on lineindic ated'by wfwj,Fig.1-2,i V

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation similar-to Fig.4, showing the screenreversed' 'without' the insulating material thereinQ" The hive comprisesfour separablefisece tions, a lower member- 12, a fsupe intermediatemember 2 and a cover. member 12 may be of the usual or anyj pre- .ferredconstruction and is provided*in its front wall with a horizOntal-slbtforming 1 the entrance and'e'xit 'of :the hive. Also-the super 1 maybejof the usual constr'uct-ionfor holding- .the' honey-boxes, not shown;The. intermediate .member 2 rests upon the" upper. edge of the super 1and forms a screen, the foraminous member thereof being indicated at 5.The foraminous member 5 is prefer-j ably in the form of woven wire asshown in the drawings. 3 The frame of the screen comprises a relativelydeep member 6 and arelatirely shallow member 7, the foraminous memberbeing interposed between the members 6, 7 and all ofthe members of thescreen being securely held together by nails 8 or their equivalents.

In Fig. ithe intermediate member 2 is shown with the deeper member 6placed uppermost so as to form a relatively deep tray to hold heat andcold insulating material indicated at 9. Said insulating material may besawdust, shavings orany other material suited to the purpose. Theinsulating material may be placed directly upon the foraminous member,but preferably a paper or other imperforate member 10 is laid on theforaminous member and the insulating material placed on the'imperforatemember sothat the finer particles of the insulating material cannot fallinto the super. The super and intermediate member 2 may, if desired, bedetachably held against relative shifting by staples 11 or any othersuitable fastening devices.

Fig. 5 the i termediate member 2 is shown in reverse position from thatshown more desirable to have the cover in place over the screen. r

In practice, when the hive'has reached a suitable location for the beesto gathernectar, the screengfZ will be placed in position with thedeeper member uppermost and the imperforate member 10, will be laid onthe foraminous member, and then sawdust or otherf suitable insulatingmaterial wil l'be placed in the screen. Since the animal heat fromthebees rises it tends to escape through the cover of the hive unlesssuch tendency is counteracted. This tendency of the heat to escape isovercome to a large extent by the insulating material 9. When theexternal temperature lowers, as at night, the in sulating material willprevent the entrance of cold through the top of the hive. Also, when theexternal temperature is comparatively high and'the'sun is possiblyshining upon the hive,the insulating material 9 will prevent, to a largeextent, the transmission of heat" to the interior ofthe hive, especiallythe upper portion thereof where the temperature would tend to begreatest.

When it becomes desirable to transport llandhe will then liftoff thescreen 2 together with its contents, the insulating material 9, and willdump said insulating material from the screen into a suitablereceptacle. He will then turn: the screen up- "per side down and placeit on the super 1 out excessive waste of energy of the bees in the hive.It is'to be noted that the insulating material does not form a;permanent packing between two fixed walls of a hive the hive from onelocation to another, the

aplarist Wlll remove the cover 3 andstaples Then the cover will gbemaintained at uniformtemperature With- 71 as has been heretoforesuggested, but that said material is loose and can be readily removed bytaking off the cover and dump;

ingsaid material from the screen as-above described.

'It is also'to'be noted that because of the reversibility of thescreenit can be used at all times, part of the time tohold theinsulatingmaterial and part ofthe time as a lventilating top of thehive. V r V I claim A bee hive comprising a lower member, a

supermounted on the lower member,' a

screen -having deeper and shallower-:frame members and'having aforaminous member between said frame" members, the screen frame being'ofthe same length and width as the super and removably' mountedon theupper edge of the super, and a cover removably positioned on the upperedge of. the screen and adapted to fit upon the upper edge of the superwhen. the screen is removed, there being means detachably engaging-thesuper and screen to prevent lateral shifting of the screen signed atRiverside, day of'July, 1920. v

' I I LESTER BAB/IBEEGER lVitheSses: I

GrERTRUDE E. BAMBERGER,

M. T. DINsM'oRE. f

California, this 10th i

